Picking up the pieces…- Ayesha Shafaq

lead a paltry life,
Darkness and uncertainty were with it to disguise,
Rivers of tears formed in me everyday,
I feared of going astray before my demise…

I kept pettifogging for things that were fake,
I was a follower of infidelity,
The infernal world made my life an inferno for me,
I suspected I would never reach reality…

Petulant, I was,
For I never could reach nirvana,
My own flock of birds, estranged me from them,
And I realized there was no reality of chimera…

This cosmos tore me apart as a worthless piece of paper,
Even the sun concealed it self from me,
My nights and days were silent and haunting,
There was no light, no shine, no harmony…

My life was like a stormy ocean,
Where merciless tides would run over my hopes,
My supporting boat shattered and abandoned me,
And I had lost my paddles and ropes…

I was, in a strife,
In a struggle to get the glow back,
I raved, I ranted, and I rambled,
But all that I could see was black…

I kept flowing as an off course boat,
All that I could see was an endless sea around,
Waves of happiness would come but seldom,
My feet would never touch any warm ground…

In my mind I could see a phantasm,
A faint, but consistent glow of light,
Though my eyes would be wet all the time,
Still some apparition would boost up my might…

Even in the maddening crowd,
I could always see a smile for me,
Whose was it, I never knew,
But it surely did bring glee…

My conviction assured me that I would reach it one day,
The animated form of my desire it was,
Pearls, diamonds, rubies and sapphire,
Were all in it because…

Then one day I witnessed an island,
A hope of life after a painful journey,
My heart giggled as my boat approached the ground,
I knew, for a reason, this was my destiny…

I stepped unto that entity,
A path was already paved for me,
I headed towards that beacon that shone there,
I felt, within, this was the reality…

As I was walking through the island,
Someone grasped my hand,
The warmth and tenderness of this specter,
Entered my soul, with feelings so grand…

Ever since the dooms day of my life,
I have been under a torrential monsoon,
Never for once could I look up into the sky,
For I feared the rain to bring again that tycoon…

This enigma was a cultivation of my sorrow,
The grief brought by those devastating tremors,
That thundering of the crust which shattered my world,
Had put my life under an evil curse…

But that very entity who clutched my hands,
Brought me out of the paradox I was in,
This entity was nothing but new-born hope,
Who pushed me to move ahead therein…

The warmth, of its touch,
Stirred me from within, completely,
I decided, I would cast away, all that despair,
To start off with a new melody…

I settled on stepping forward,
I decided to finish my life’s pinching strife,
Leaving behind those abandoned ships,
In the quest of a new life…

The valley where I dwelled in,
Is now nothing but a rubble of dust,
My tears have made its soils fertile again, however,
To make it bloom again, just…

I’ve picked up the pieces,
And I am trying to join up the jig-saw puzzle,
Pieces are many, clues are few, however
My passion, yet, boosts me up with its nuzzle…

It is futile to cry over spilt milk,
All that had been, has gone, now,
Courage and strength is to rise once again,
And to be alive after every great bow…

For after every rain there’s a rainbow,
After every night there’s a day,
After every winters there a promise of the spring,
It works like that, in that very way…

Audacity is there even in the ants,
They keep climbing a wall, even after a thousand falls,
Never, do they give up,
Until, they reach, their goals…

Journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step,
Let not trivial tragedies take away your might,
For troubles and difficulties are tests from thy Lord,
So prove yourself to Him, that you are right…

“To hate all roses; because you got scratched by one thorn,
To give up all your dreams; because one did not come true,
To lose faith in prayers; because one was not answered,
Is madness…

To give up on your efforts; because one of them failed,
To condemn all your friends; because one of them betrayed,
To not believe in love’ because one was unfaithful,
Is madness…

Remember that a new chance may come up,
A new friend, a new love, a new life.
And even if a long lasting devastation struck you,
You can stir up a new revolution…”

Ayesha Shafaq